We ’re just a few day into 2017 , but it ’s already looking a bit better than last twelvemonth – for blank space lover at least . Because SpaceX has announced it is going to get back to launching rockets this Sunday , January 8 , after finding out what caused one of itsrockets to explodelast September .
In astatement , SpaceX announced that it had now influence out what caused that burst on September 1 after a collaborative investigation that included the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , the US Air Force ( USAF ) , NASA , and the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) .
The explosion happen while the rocket was on the land during a mundane test , meaning SpaceX had admission to umbilical data , ground - based video , and forcible debris . But there was just 93 milliseconds between the first anomalous data and the explosion , have in mind finding the cause was hard .
“ The accident investigation team worked consistently through an blanket fracture tree analysis and conclude that one of the three composite overwrapped pressure vas ( COPVs ) inside the second stage liquid state atomic number 8 ( LOX ) tank failed , ” SpaceX said .
“ Specifically , the investigation team concluded the failure was likely due to the accumulation of atomic number 8 between the COPV liner and overwrap in a void or a buckle in the liner , lead to ignition and the subsequent unsuccessful person of the COPV . ”
A replay of the explosion in September . USLaunchReport
SpaceX read they had overcome this failure in the myopic full term by lead “ disciplinary actions ” , which let in loading warmer temperature helium into the rocket . In the future , the company is design to redesign the COPV , to keep this fall out again .
The launch on Sunday will take spot from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4E in California . The Falcon 9 rocket will take the Iridium-1 satellite for communication supplier Iridium into low Earth orbit . Iridium has say theysupported SpaceX ’s decisionto delay the launch until January , and remain “ as confident as ever ” in SpaceX ’s power to carry out a successful launch .
If everything goes to plan , this will be SpaceX ’s first flight since the launch of the JCSAT-16 satellite on August 14 , 2016 . And it come at a good time , as SpaceX has a considerable stockpile of launches to get through .
It is also plan to found its Falcon Heavy rocket this year , which will be the most herculean rocket in operation today . The ship’s company tease a pic of the rocket recently , although a firm date for the launch has not yet been discover .
